Back in February I posted here and committed to being more present and more transparent about where we're headed. Time for an update.
We’ve been working through a long list of improvements, and we're now in the final stretch of getting them ready. I know it’s been a decent interval of quiet on my end. Thanks for your patience. We've been reading the posts.
What I wanted from this work was simple: a series of enhancements that make Sonos easier to learn and easier to use. The team has spent hundreds of hours over the past year watching real customers use the Sonos app, longtime owners and brand new ones alike. We've learned a lot about what hangs people up, what's confusing when you're new to the system, and what slows you down when you're just trying to change the darn volume.
What kept showing up was this: a lot of friction came from proprietary patterns we built that made the app harder to learn and use than it needed to be. Stacks on stacks on stacks of content cards. Swipe-up gestures to switch speaker orientation. Close boxes where any other app on your phone would have a back button. Custom interface elements that never quite felt like part of iOS or Android.
Now all of that is changing. Not a new app, but a new way of navigating Sonos inside the app you already have.
It starts with a beta release this week. The new navigation already benefits from a bunch of feedback here, including the monster thread of thoughtful replies I got last time I posted. Here are some things to expect:
• Familiar Tabbed navigation. Three tabs (Home, System, Search) replacing the hidden gestures and content cards. Native on both iOS and Android.
• A totally new volume interface. A core mechanism that is easier to grab and fine tune, buttons to tap up and down if that’s your thing and a new way to synchronize a across group of rooms.
• Player sort and orientation. More control over how your players are listed and displayed.
Dozens of smaller quality-of-life fixes everywhere (swipe-to-delete in playlists, a refreshed Now Playing screen, new iPad views, and attention to detail everywhere in the app).
Here’s how this rolls out: for starters, we're not flipping a switch and pushing it to everyone at once. Beta testers are getting it this week and even then it’s something they’ll have to explicitly turn on in settings (Gear Icon > Enable Improved Navigation). After beta, when we start rolling this out to everyone, it will start as an opt-in toggle there too, so everyone can try it (or not) on their own terms. From there we’ll listen to what you have to say and iterate until it’s fully polished up.
If you'd like to give it an early try, our Beta program is expanding (sign up here). It's the best way to give it a try and send us your feedback early.
Stepping back: this is the beginning of a different way of working here at Sonos, where what gets built, and in what order, is shaped by the conversations here and with all our customers.
Thanks for the inspiration and thanks for sticking with us.
